


Down the Drain and Into the Forest

by reaperlove



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternative Universe (literally), Angel Castiel, Coda, Crack, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Portals, Profound Bond, Righteous Man Dean, fairy tale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8000248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlove/pseuds/reaperlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where did Dean go when he disappeared into the men's room for an hour in season one's "The Bender"?<br/>Well, to put it short, he went down the drain and awoke in a magical forest...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down the Drain and Into the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> Un- edited, un-beta's. For a really good fairy tale AU read CopaceticBrainBox's [Once Upon a...](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5381342/chapters/12429341), it's a wonderful story.
> 
> Cover art by the wonderful whataboutthefish.
> 
> It ends when Dean comes out of the bar, I guess you all know how the story progresses from there, if not send me a message on tumblr or better, watch the darn episode.

 

“Yeah, you really know how to have fun, don’t you grandma?”

Dean patted Sam on the shoulder and looked around the dirty dive bar he’s been playing darts in while Sammy was doing research and still nursing his first lousy beer. Dean did definitely have more than one and he could feel nature calling, pretty loudly.

“Alright, I’ll meet you outside, gotta take a leak.”

With that he grabbed his coat and headed to the bathroom. He braced himself for the stenching odour of urine, vomit and stale desperation when he opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the smell of earth, wood and summer rain.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

He heard footsteps behind him and stepped into one of the two stalls, he just wasn’t in the mood for a creepy guy staring at his junk. He emptied his bladder into the remarkably clean toilet and when he had flushed and bent down to close the lid, he saw a strange, green sparkle coming from the bottom of the toilet. He leaned in closer to get a better look when he felt a strange tingling sensation invading his whole body and before he could turn away, he was suddenly sucked down the drain.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Dean slowly opened his eyes. His was aching all over, like he had gone a round against a pack of werewolfs. He blinked up to a closed roof of leaves and when he turned his head, he realized he was lying in the middle of a densely wooded, green forest. And he wasn’t alone.

“Greetings, righteous man, we’ve been waiting for your arrival since the prophecy of Friedward the Unwashed many, many moons ago. Welcome to The Magik Forest.”

Dean was surrounded by freaking garden gnomes dressed in leaves and tree bark. They all had a big smile on their faces and looked at him expectantly.

“What?” asked Dean eloquently and a gnome with dark skin and long, red hair stepped forward to help him up, which was a kind of a laughable idea, given that he was half as tall as Dean, tops. But he was surprisingly strong and determined and Dean found himself standing upright, towering over the assembled little people and shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. The redhead spoke again, with a deep, commanding voice.

“You have played The Magik Game in the otherworld and hit the numbers only the righteous man knows, so we activated a portal so you can help us fight the great dragon.”

“What?” He couldn’t possibly be here because he had played freaking darts. This time the gnome assembly broke out in concerned murmur and Dean thought that they didn’t look that innocent and friendly anymore. He was now aware of the spears and clubs some of the men and women carried and tried to set his brain in gear to get out of whatever weird situation he was in with his head still attached to his shoulders. He cleared his throat and put on a very fake grin before he addressed the unsettled masses. How many of them were there, a few dozen, hundreds? He couldn’t really tell.

“Greetings to you as well, fellow, uhm, fellow…”

“Elves, we are tree elves,” whispered a little boy and Dean smiled at him gratefully.

“Yeah, of course, tree elves, how could I forget that, must still be a little woozy from the trip through the, uhm, portal thingie.”

The elves nodded in understanding and let out a relieved sigh. They seemed to buy his bullcrap.

“Anyway, I will of course help you fight off the great dragon, phh, I could do that blindfolded and with one arm tied behind my back.” Why the heck was he saying that?

A cheer broke out and Dean was swept away by the crowd straight into what must be the tree elve’s small village, with houses carved into and perching on top of ancient, gigantic trees. He was led to a clearing in the center and sat down on a broad fallen tree, facing a cozy bonfire. The sun had set slowly and cold started to creep into Dean’s bones. The redhead, whose name he had learned was Augustin, put a hand on his shoulder.

“I will now go and get the angel, then you two can discuss strategies.”

With that he vanished before Dean could ask who the freck he was talking about. He craned his head in every direction, but he couldn’t make out a freaking angel. A tall guy with dark, tousled hair and almost gleaming blue eyes appeared before him, seemingly out of thin air.

“Hello, Dean, “ he said, and there was a softness in his raspy voice that sent goosebumps over Dean’s whole body.

“I am Castiel, an angel of the lord, and I am here to help the righteous man complete his important task.”

Dean just gaped at him and could hardly suppress another confused what, when the angel continued his monologue.

“We don’t have much time, the portal to your world will close when the daylight breaks, and you have to get back to Sam, he needs your help.”

Dean instantly leapt to his feet when he heard the name of his little brother.

“What has happened to Sammy, Tell me right now, I swear to god, if you hurt him-” before he could answer, Castiel was by his side and lay both hands on his shoulders. Dean instantly felt calm, as if he’d known the guy for decades, there was a strange pull Dean couldn’t explain.

“I would never do your brother harm and I know that you will be back in time to save him once again. You are a good brother and a good man, Dean Winchester.”

Dean tried to take a step back, but he was hypnotised by this impossibly familiar blue eyes.

“How, how can you say that,” he mumbled, “you don’t even know me.”

A sad look flashed over Castiel’s face and he sighed deeply, dropping his hands from Dean’s shoulders.

“We’ve met each other countless times in countless different universes and I hope that one day, I can let you keep those memories.”

Dean was confused, less by the words but more by the sudden loss of Castiel’s warm hands and that made him feel uneasy on a whole new level.

“Cas, man, I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry I don’t remember you.”

Cas perked up a bit by Dean’s affectionate use of his nickname and a shy little smile tucked at the corners of his mouth, but it quickly disappeared when he looked at the now completely dark sky.

“We don’t have much time, I’ll lead you to the forbidden mace where the dragon hides at night.”

“Uhm, how big exactly is that dragon?” Dean rubbed his neck and took an uneasy step back, ready to bolt, special angel connection or not.

“The size of a normal adult dragon, you know, as tall as the old oak,” August said in a cheerful tone and handed Dean a long, silvery gleaming sword, expression suddenly very serious and solemn.

“This sword has been handed down from generation to generation, waiting for the righteous man to arrive and rid us of all evil. The dragon alredy has destroyed the village of our cousins, the elven town is nothing more than a pile of smoldering ashes. Luckily they all escaped unharmed, but we don’t want to wait until the dragon ventures further into the Magik Forrest, we’ve called this place our home for ages. We can not lose it.”

Dean swallowed hard and peeked over to Castiel. Dang it, he was a hunter, saving people, hunting things, that was the family motto. With the help of the angel he could gank that beast. He swung the sword, it felt like he hadn’t done anything else in his entire life. It gave him a sense of power and immortality.

Dean grabbed Cas by the lapels of his frigging ugly trenchcoat and started walking into the direction they had come from.

“Dean, I’ll follow you gladly into every battle, but the dragon maze is in the opposite direction.”

“Ha, yeah, of course, I knew that, I just wanted to test you,” Dean said sheepishly and walked down the path Cas had pointed at. August handed Castiel a lit lantern and teleported himself directly in front of Dean.

“Woh, Cas, don’t do that, scares the crap out of me!”

“My apologies. I just wanted to light us the way, our mission will fail if you trip over a root and fall into your sword.” Dean couldn’t detect any sort of humor in Cas’s words, shook his head and kept on walking in the dim light of the lantern.

They didn’t talk, but Dean couldn’t help to notice the glances Castiel threw at him and he realized that Cas was stepping closer and closer as they progressed forward.

“Dude, personal space?”

“Of course, apologies again.”

Dean couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss when Cas widened the space between them, but he couldn’t explain why. It felt like, yeah, like a profound bond stretched to its limits and where the heck did that come from?

Dean was deep in his thoughts when Cas suddenly stopped and he crashed into the angel.

“Sorry buddy, didn’t pay attention”

He stayed pressed to Cas’s back longer than was probably appropriate, but Cas didn’t seem to mind. After a minute that felt much longer yet not long enough, Castiel took a step forward and gestured to the entrance of a huge maze of tall, thorny hedges.

“We have to get to the middle, that’s where it sleeps. I’ll lead the way.”

Dean followed Cas into the dark labyrinth and probably thanks to Castiel’s freaky angel powers, they didn’t once take a false turn and reached the center within minutes.

The dragon was breathtakingly beautiful. The flaming red scales that covered its body reflected the silver moonlight, the horns on his enormous head looked like made of pure ivory. It was as huge as a house and snoring peacefully.

“You sure I have to slay it? It looks quite...nice,” Dean whispered.

“You’ve heard what Augustus said, it has already caused great harm and puts every life in The Magik Forest in danger. Aim your sword at its heart, that’s where it’s most vulnerable.”

Cas did evidently not know anything about the concept of whispering, his raspy voice carried through the otherwise silent darkness. And of frigging cause, the dragon snapped its stunningly green eyes open and opened its mouth with a gigantic roar.

It rose to its feet in no time, pinned Dean against a thorny hedge and swept Castiel out of the maze with a forceful sweep of its long tail. Then it did nothing, just stared at Dean, who saw a tear running down its face and noticed a small whimper coming from the beast.

Dean tentatively raised his hands, dropped the sword and carefully rubbed the surprisingly soft snout of the dragon. The dragon purred and lowered its head, so Dean could scratch it behind its ears. He felt no fear, just deep worry for the poor creature.

“What’s the matter….my girl? I think you’re a girl.”

The dragon huffed her approval and raised her left hind leg which was swollen and red. Dean examined it closely and found a whole thorny bush wedged between the bleeding claws.

“This could hurt a little, sweetheart, please don’t barbecue me.”

With that Dean yanked the piece of hedge out of the paw and was rewarded with a relieved sigh and a gently slurp of wet dragon tongue over his head.

“Ugh, yeah, that’s enough, you’re very welcome. And you should probably get the heck out of here pretty fast before the villager come with forks and torches.”

The dragon nudged Dean gently to the side, licked him one last time and was gone into the night sky with a flap of her giant wings.

“Take care of you, baby, and better not come back!”

Dean watched the gragon slowly disappear into the darkness, grabbed the sword and hurried out of the maze to find the fallen angel.

Cas staggered into his arms when Dean turned a corner and hugged him tightly, murmuring into Dean’s plaid shirt.

“I was afraid I lost you, but then I heard what you did to the dragon Dean, you are a smart, kind, wonderful man.”

Dean blushed profusely and stepped out of the embrace.

“Yeah sure, whatever.”  
Cas stretched out his arms and murmured some words in an ancient language Dean couldn’t understand and before him opened a portal, just like the one Dean had come through on his way to The Magik Forest.

Cas turned to Dean with tears in his eyes.

“I will see you again, Dean. You might not remember my face, but you’ll always feel the tug of our profound

Dean swallowed hard and nodded, he didn’t trust his own voice not to break if he spoke. Instead he pulled Cas in for a warm hug, savouring every second he had left with his strange angel.

“You have to leave, Dean, or the portal will close forever. Go, look out for your brother and remember: when you are in the most dire need of help, I will be there and raise you from perdition.”

Before Dean could ask what that was supposed to mean, Cas gently pushed him towards the portal and Dean once more felt the tingling and the strong pull that succked him back up the drain and spit him out beside the toilet, exactly where his adventure had begun.

He stared down the toilet for a long time but the green glimmer was gone and so was the pleasant smell. He hurried out of the bathroom, escaping the pungent stench of urine and his eyes fell on the watch on the opposite wall. Only one hour had passed since he entered The Magik Forrest.

A sharp pain surged through his head and he had to lean against the doorframe not to collapse to the grimy floor. He looked at the watch again and shook himself. He’d been on the can for one whole hour, what the hell had he been doing there? The nagging feeling in his brain that he’d forgot something important slowly faded away and Dean put on his coat and stepped out of the bar, expecting to see Sam’s bitchface number 1 to greet him by the Impala. But there was no Sammy, not inside the car, not on the whole parking lot.

He walked up to a biker and his girlfriend lounging around the entrance of the bar.

“Hey, you guys been around here in the last hour or so?”

They shook their heads and panic slowly crept into his heart, clenching around it with an ice cold fist.

“Sammy!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, but there was no answer. He frantically ran to the middle of the street, looking it up and down, looking for a sign of his brother, but finding none.

He spun around, the metallic taste of fear prominent on his tongue.

“Sam!”

But nothing but silent darkness answered his call.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story for [SPNColdestHits](http://spncoldesthits.tumblr.com/), the prompt for September was Toilet Humor", fill the fan fiction gap in 1X16 "The Benders", G- rated and" no archive warnings apply" only.
> 
> And yes, it's pretty much Androcles and the lion all over again, I know. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> You can dm me on tumblr, it's on hiatus but I will answer asap.


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